Heath Hatch - University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Professor: Heath Hatch

Department: TBD

College: University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYS131
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Do not take this class. This professor has not taught ONE thing. There are no lectures. You teach yourself everything and then you come to class and try your best at difficult in class problems with little help from anyone. I have never been so stressed out in my life and I am very type A. The professor is smug and takes pride in low exam avgs.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHY131
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

There are no lectures, so be prepared to go to SI sessions, help room, or struggle by yourself. Heath gives motivational speeches on the daily and has a terrible attitude by starting classes with "lets get this misery started" and making claims that we'll never need to use physics anyway. Class is heavily scaled to make up for D to F exam averages.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS131
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

SO freakin stressful. You're basically gambling on exams for a good grade. Go over the in class problems as many times as you can. Great Guy tho

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS131
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Physics is a hard subject, and Heath knows that. He's an interesting guy, and may have some unorthodox methods of teaching, but they really work. The group setting is helpful because it makes sure you're actively participating, rather than falling asleep slowly during lectures in a big hall. Overall, it made the subject way more tolerable!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHY131
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Physics 131 with Hatch is a TBL style classroom. This means that although attendance is not mandatory you are constantly doing labs, which need to be uploaded for grading. In my opinion, if you understand the questions that are done during the class period, you should be good for the test. Heath is a great guy and I would definitely recommend!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHY131
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

This class used to be an easy A. IT IS NO LONGER EASY. they changed the class structure, and really messed it up. Our class average for every exam was an F. He also no longer drops the lowest exam, and there is barely any extra credit. Zero lectures, you have to teach yourself. Get a good group and get ready to teach yourself.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHY151
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Caring professor who will go out of his way for his students to succeed. He is accessible outside of class, and willing to put in a lot of extra work to help his students. This class is VERY challenging, and most people fail the exams or get a D, but they're curved and he gives a lot of extra credit. Skip class? you won't pass. DO THE HOMEWORK.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHY131
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

One of the best professors ever. Truly willing to help out all his students and such an easy going professor. Offers extra credit on exams and you actually learn in his class. It is tbl, so if you don't like that then I would recommend not signing up for it.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHY131
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I did no work in this class and got an A. That being said, I hate that the class is TBL. I pay sooo much money just to sit in a room with a highly qualified professor who does nothing and I have to talk to other students who don't know what's going on. Wish at least some days were lecture...

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHY131
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Grade consists of 3 things; Class attendance, homework, and exam grades. The first exam is very difficult, but the last 2 (and the final) are very easy. The lowest exam grade also gets dropped. Attend class and do the homework though; I ended up with an A- only because I skipped two days of class when we had an inclass lab.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHY131
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Put forth your best faith effort and Heath will reward you. Pay attention to the videos and ask questions if you don't understand. Even though physics is a hard course, it is easy to get an A in this class. No textbook, but you have to pay for MasteringPhysics.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHY131
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Really chill professor. Doesn't lecture much so most of what you learn is from the hw and group assignments. Exams are all based on hw and assignment problems. Lots of extra credit. Lowest test gets dropped so most people didn't even need to take the final. Put in some effort and it's an easy A.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHY125
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

"Seeing The Light" - Half of the classes were lecture style (Hasbrouck) and half were group work/experiments (ILC) - He wants you to pass, grades on "best faith effort". - Really relaxed in terms of what assignments could be (changed our final to a project instead of a test) - Funny, lots of Bill Nye-esque experiments - Highly recommended

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS125
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Heath is a good guy, but not the best professor. His lectures teach you nothing, and you get graded on three tests, maybe a couple of class assignments, but everything on the test you will have to teach yourself. However, he makes it very clear that extra credit is available at all times, and he will do everything he can to raise your grade to an A

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHYS132
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Took 131 and 132 online. 132 is harder, but still doable. You get extra credit for doing all of the homework (with the extra credit, you only need a 91% for an A). You get a cheat sheet on the final. A few exam questions are unfamiliar, but generally fair. Labs are confusing but lab report grades are usually pretty good.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYS131
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Heath hatch is the best professor of all time. If you don't like that man than you are confused. A pleasure to be in class every day.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHY131
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

The class will get failing grades on easy exams bc he won't teach, and then he'll scale it up to A's and B's anyway. It seems like he cares more about being popular than teaching material. TBL is a broken style and people do badly because they can't teach each other. I have traditional lecture this semester with Toggerson and it's much better.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHY131
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Lots of scaling. I did terrible on my first exam and got an A in the class. I'm lucky and had a group I loved working with, so I didn't mind the TBL format. I learn pretty well in a lecture format, so I wish there was more teaching and then group work after, but it varies day to day. He kind of lets you teach yourself first then reinforces after.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS131
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I got a 50 on the first exam and walked out with an A. Trust what he tells you, and your grade will be fine. He is very accommodating and makes the best out of TBL.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHY131
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

After getting a 36 on the first exam and a 48 on the second exam, I'm amazed at how I still have a chance to get a B- in the class even if I don't do well on the final. With that said, Heath gives loads of extra credit opportunities to help students. Since the course is TBL, most of the material needs to be learned on your own/with your group.